Replacement walkie-talkies

[94boosted]

If you do get the Bofengs, this is the open source programmer to use;

http://chirp.danplanet.com/projects/chirp/wiki/Home

I can help.

Brian

Can the Bofengs be programmed to be legal (1.0W max)? Or is that a hardware issue?

I rather like these (https://www.amazon.com/BaoFeng-LYSB00E4FO2TW-SPRTSEQIP-Dual-Band-Programming-Support/dp/B00E4FO2TW/ref=sr_1_8?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1511835446&sr=1-8&keywords=baofeng+uv-5r) and other forums (thanks Stephen) seem to also like these

[Reijo]

Another data point for the Baofeng radios. We use them for our chumpcar and team radios, lots of options available for in-car harnesses, helmet mikes, etc. ASA went to using them a couple seasons ago - the distances at Castrol necessitated better radios than they were using previously. I programmed them for the FRS/GMRS frequencies only. My recollection is that I bought a pack of 10 for ~$240 from a vendor on Amazon. They can be locked down to the legally required transmission power limits using CHIRP or the low/high power mode can be toggled using the keypad.

Oh, and having a couple headsets available for them is nice too. Especially useful if timing/scoring is near the start line and the noise interferes with the ability to hear calls on the radios. Wearing headphones also serves as a useful "don't bug me now" indicator for someone running timing.

And, of course, you are using them just north of the Edmonton International Airport so I am assuming you have not had any complains etc.?

R

[SKI-R]

It looks like the units Tom linked in his last post are 4/1W based on the expanded specifications.  I'm not certain they can be 'locked' or programmed to only work at 1W, but they do have that as a transmitting option.....someone with knowledge of what CHIRP can actually do will need to answer.

See this for expanded specs: